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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Why Here and Not There? Why There and Not Here?

Last night was a Blue Moon. I am sure many of you were able to get fantastic photos of the moon as it rose in the sky. We saw it on our way home from dinner, but because of our location, it wasn't until it was higher in the sky that we were able to see it from our property. A grainy but interesting photo of said Blue Moon. I do like the jet trails in the sky.

That photo was taken at the top of the driveway, some of the neighbors had a much better view of the rising moon. Their views over the lake face east....ours is north. I am glad I don't have the rising sun shining in my bedroom windows.

At the top of our yard, by the street is pretty untamed. I find interesting plant material up there. The newest find is a Liatris, probably possibly Liatris graminifolia or perhaps something else. My books say the Liatris in SC are difficult to distinguish. I thought it might be a Carphephorus bellidifolius, but don't think so. There are two plants at the edge of the woods. I haven't seen this anywhere else in my woods, yard, garden, or along the street as I walk the dogs. Hope it reseeds and there are more next summer!

Everywhere in the woods, I find this little Euphorbia. This one was previously IDed for me by Daricia. E. corollata or E. pubentissima. Either way, it is cute scattered among the other wild things.

Curiously, I have two Helianthus sp. in the woods outside my dining room window. I see it blooming along the roadways all through the area, except in our neighborhood. These two are the only ones I have seen. Curious. I love the bright yellow in the woods, the color just pops.

When I take the dogs for a walk I keep my eyes open for something other than chinese lespedesa or blackberry brambles....the two most commonly growing things on vacant lots.

Both last year and this year I have seen this plant in the photo below, in ONE location. To me it looks like Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum pycnanthemoides. This is as close as I got to it, about 6- 8 feet away. Perhaps in the later fall, if there is still some vegetation left, I might venture in to see if I can find a squared stem or leaf arrangement. Currently I am in my fifth consecutive day since May without a bug bite needing 'After Bite' or Cortisone Cream or Benedryl Cream. I would like to make at least make it a week!! I have had more bug bites this year, mostly chiggers, though some might be spider bites.

Funny this is nowhere else in the wooden lots along our street. Believe me, I am always on the lookout!!

The Passiflora incarnata mentioned in past posts, growing near my tiny Sassafras tree is another mystery. For those who know this vine, it has amazing underground rhizomes that travel great distances. There should be a lot of these vines in my location, if there is one, there must be a lot. I have many other vines that fill the woods, surely there must be some other Passion vines. Haven't seen any, zero, nada. Maybe this one is the pioneer seedling, dropped by a bird, left to germinate and grow in my yard along the driveway. Again, very interesting.

Finally, I leave you with a picture of the sunset last night. If we go down to the water, out on the dock, we get beautiful evening skies. I suppose it all comes down to location, location, location....and we sure love ours!! Happy Labor Day weekend to all!

39 comments:

Happy Labor Day Janet! Hope you have a great weekend. That is a beautiful sunset, and a beautiful spot to watch it from. You have such interesting wildflowers near your property. Can you save seeds from that Liatris and try growing some yourself?

The pix you think is mountain mint IS mountain mint. :o) I have it in my garden. I've never seen such a tiny euphorbia. It's really cute! Liatris is great for attracting pollinators. Plus, it's super tough. It's a great plant to have show up. Have a great weekend!

Terra, thanks so much for stopping by. Ohhh sleeping out on the dock isn't really a good idea. There are some creepy waterbug things that live on the underside of the dock. There are critters at night, wouldn't be keen on a muskrat crawling over me while I slept. Then there are the spiders......oh my. It does look nice though.

I have seen a plant like the Euphorbia up here and now will check out if it looks like what you showed. The photo of the lake is really beautiful. What a great spot. The Blue Moon was a bit of a wash up here as it was cloudy. I did photograph it on my other blog on Thursday on a clear night, then on Friday through the clouds. I really wanted a good photo of it too.

What beautiful pictures Janet. I love the one of the lake. Just gorgeous. It is always fun to keep an eye out for new natives growing each year. I always get excited over finding a new one that has taken root. The little Euphorbia's are so cute.

Happy Labor Day to you as well Janet! Enjoyed the woodland garden tour, especially the sunset and moon photos. I agree that the last flower photo looks like mountain mint. Hopefully you can get closer to it this fall.I can tell your really enjoying it down there (except for the bugs...ha ha).

Janet those sky photos are amazing...without a tripod I cannot get evening or night shots that aren't blurry...I love the wildflowers you find and try t identify...so far I have been no help but that does look like a liatris.

I've always wondered, too, why something thrives in one location and not in another. A couple of years ago we had what I thought were wild phlox growing everywhere along the roadsides. I dug up a clump from the ditch across the road (the neighbors thought I was weird, I'm sure) and planted it in my garden where it promptly died:)

I have a huge swath of mountain mint and have always loved its fragrance and powdery white bracts in late summer. For some reason, this year, every plant has fallen over and there are very few blooms. Maybe it's the heat over the past few months, or maybe the trees have just gotten larger and there's too much shade. Loved your photo of the lake. So peaceful...

That last photo is utterly stunning Janet, no wonder you are happy living where you are! I would be deeply envious if I hadn't moved near water and amazing skies myself ;-)

I have this wonderful image of you walking around your area, eyes darting this way and that, searching out the little wild gems that almost certainly pass most others by. Hope your Liatris settles in for the long term.

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